Questions
by Lynnlee22
Summary: Kelly and Joey receive a strange wedding gift. Is there more to the strange gesture?


The red ink ran slightly as it bled into the thin sheets of newspaper. He smiled to himself as he read the announcement silently to himself. The words still sent a rush through him, no matter how many times he'd seen them now.

Kelly Cramer and Joseph Buchanan were married at 7pm on July 7, 2012 at the Palace Hotel in Llanview, Pennsylvania. Kelly Cramer is the daughter of the late Melinda Cramer…

The details that followed regarding the wedding party and ceremony festivities did not interest him. Three names in this announcement were of importance…Melinda Cramer, Kelly Cramer, and Joseph Buchanan. One he knew very well and the other two he knew of.

Folding the newspaper in half, he smiled as he slipped it into the outer pocket of his overnight bag. He couldn't help but chuckle at bit as he took one last look over his shoulder as he headed towards the door.

"Goodbye roach motel," he muttered, "And good riddance."

* * *

"Thank you," Joey replied with a smile, quickly signing the clipboard and sending the young man on his way with a generous tip.

"Kel," he called, adding the wrapped package to the impressive stack gathered in front of the couch. "They just delivered another gift. If we don't get started opening these things they're going to block us in."

Marrying Kelly after all these years had been a dream come true for him and, judging by the show of support, plenty of other people had been waiting on this moment as well. People he hadn't seen in years had sent tokens of their congratulations.

The most recent arrival appeared to have originated in New York City. There was no sender's name on the package's return address, but it was almost certainly a BE business contact or perhaps one of Kelly's newspaper associates.

"Wow." Kelly's voice startled him as he sat the package back on top of the stack. "I think they're multiplying while we sleep," she smiled, laughing softly as she stepped over to him and slowly wrapped her arms around his neck.

He kissed her softly, returning the smile. This truly was the life he'd always wanted. If someone had asked him to define the perfect life, he couldn't imagine that he would say anything other than this. "A lot of people have been waiting a long time for us to be happy," he whispered, "Me included."

She nodded, "Me too." Leaning back, in a reluctant attempt to quell what could easily turn into another romantic interlude, she stared at the stack of gifts. "I guess we should get started opening these," she smiled.

Joey sighed, allowing a big rush of air to escape his lungs. Foiled again. "Right," he smiled, taking a step back as he glanced into her sparkling eyes. Using his foot he shifted the first stack towards the couch and took a seat beside her. "Guess we should start from the top and work out way down," he said softly, barely able to keep his composure.

Clearing her throat, she pulled the tie on her robe tighter. "Gifts," she said, the giggles now overtaking her. "Focus."

With a disarming grin, Joey nodded, handing her the first gift. "The most recent arrival," he announced, gesturing wildly with his hand. "It hails from New York City."

"Hmmm," Kelly muttered, carefully removing the brown butcher paper that was wrapped carelessly around the package. Most of the packages they'd received had been professionally packaged and wrapped in bridal paper. Many even came adorned with fresh flowers, but this appeared to have been thrown together and sent from a postal service.

As she pulled the contents of the package out, her eyebrows furrowed.

"What is it?" Joey leaned closer to her, trying to get a closer look.

"A book of sheet music," she said softly. She slowly stood up, checking around her feet and beside her on the couch. "There's no card, no name, nothing…."

"Who would send us sheet music? I mean….it's nice, but neither of us play."

"Maybe it's a mistake," she said, flipping the brown paper over again to check the address. It was their address—no mistake. "That's weird."

"What?" Joey asked again.

"Most of the gifts have come addressed to both of us, or at least Mr. and Mrs. Buchanan. This one is just addressed to me—Kelly Cramer Buchanan." She looked over at Joey, her green eyes narrowed slightly.

He could tell immediately that she was bothered. Kelly wasn't good at letting things go, even little harmless questions could keep her up at night. "I'm sure it's just some lover of the arts that wants to fill every home with music or something." He leaned over, kissing her on the cheek. "Really."

She smiled and nodded, reaching over to accept the next present he held out to her.

* * *

Summer was ending—the cooler nights were always the first sign. The light breeze lifted her hair off her shoulders as she shuddered a bit. It was late…at least 2 am she knew and yet she wasn't the least bit sleepy. Hours ago she'd managed to slip out of bed without waking Joey and she was honestly surprised he hadn't noticed her absence yet.

As happy as she was with him, as safe as she felt, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. She hated feeling like this and more than that—she hated not being able to tell Joey about it. He didn't like to hear her talk this way. He'd say she was just being negative and that she needed to learn to believe that good things would happen for her.

He just didn't understand, she thought sadly, as she stared out at the starless sky. The clouds had created a curtain so thick that the moon's light barely penetrated. She didn't have much experience with positive things happening to her. Short of her marriage to Joey, her life had been one tragic mistake after another.

Tonight though, this was different…this feeling was more than the typical anxiety and she knew exactly when it started. Her eyes fell on the book of sheet music that rested on the table. Joey had tried to convince her that it was just an odd gift, probably from some eccentric that didn't know them well enough to even be sending a gift.

In front of him, she'd pretended to buy into it, but deep down she believed it was more than that. Someone had sent this to her. ..addressed to her…for a reason. She just wished she knew why..and who.

* * *

"Your room will be ready in just a moment Mr. Morrison." The young woman smiled at him as she stepped away from the desk.

He smiled, nodding quickly. "Yes, thank you Mr. Morrison," he whispered, flipping the card as he held it in his hand. He thought back to the nice guy at the bar who had slid his card across the table to pay for the next round.

"Sorry pal, you'll be paying for a little bit more over the next few days…at least until I get what I came here for."


End file.
